Beyond Death (19 page)

‘All right, darling?’ He had a smirk on his face and Fiona felt the presence of the other three behind her.

‘Just let me pass please and I’ll be fine.’

‘Now that wouldn’t be any fun. Would it?’ Came a voice from behind and she half turned so that she could see all five of them. Predictably, the one who spoke carried a knife and was throwing it back and forth between each hand.

‘Do as I tell you there’s a good girl, and it’ll be over quickly.’

Fiona didn’t have time to answer before they all heard footsteps and saw the twins running towards them. Mikey knew they outnumbered the two guys but could see that they looked pretty fit. He panicked and as the twins neared and Fiona was watching them, grabbed her from behind and threw an arm around her neck. When the twins arrived on the scene Mikey held Fiona with one hand and held the knife against her neck with the other. His gang didn’t like the look of the twins and two of them disappeared into the shadows like snakes into the undergrowth. His two closer foot soldiers remained, their eyes flitting from Mikey and Fiona to the twins in obvious agitation.

‘They can’t do anything while I’ve got her.’ He said to reassure his mates. ‘Jack their wallets.’

‘I don’t know what your problem is and why you’ve been hanging around in my territory, so I’m teaching you a lesson, innit.’

Jim took a step towards them and Mikey nicked Fiona with the blade. The blood seeped out of the left-hand side of her neck. Up until then she’d assumed it was all bravado, but now she was frightened and kept as still as she possibly could.

‘Mikey. Let’s get back to the yard.’ Said one of the others as Jim and Tony reluctantly handed over their wallets.

Mikey felt a strange surge of power and didn’t want it to end. ‘Relax, man. There’s nobody else about. Live a little.’ He put his lips to Fiona’s ear and pressed the knife harder to her neck. ‘You want a proper man, darling.’

Jim knew that with his brother, they could take out the other two. He also knew that by the time they did Fiona could be badly injured or even worse. He sensed the leader was going to do something stupid and knew they were running out of time. He had to stop the guy before he could hurt her even more and knew that his only chance was to charge him. It wasn’t usual for Jim to be indecisive, but when it came to putting the woman he loved in danger, he was hesitant. Mikey could see his indecision and was enjoying the game.

Gabriella had summoned Ron, Claire and Ken and they were all watching events unfold.

‘Right, I’ve seen enough,’ she flapped her wings as if limbering up. ‘Time to help out.’

‘What do you want us to do?’ But they were on their way before she’d answered Ron’s question.

Gabriella thought she’d left it too late, and when she saw that the youth was about to cut Fiona again, gave a quick nod to Ken. He swarmed towards Mikey, not knowing what to do but keen to help. He was stopped in his tracks by a dog. Not any ordinary pet, but a cur sent by the devil’s messengers. Having had many different guises himself Ken knew that the dog had once been human. The knowledge didn’t do him any good as the miserable animal stopped his advance and threw him back against the wall. He slid down it, completely immobile and powerless to assist further. Ron didn’t wait to be told by Gabriella and advanced towards the dog, slowly but purposefully.

Claire could see that her brothers were distressed and were trying to find a way to remove Fiona from her current predicament. She tried with all her might to communicate with them but their stress had closed the channel and her efforts were futile.

The dog recognized Ron as the one he’d beaten up when Mikey and his crew had attacked Ron’s wife. He also recognized Gabriella as the angel who had stopped him from holding onto Ken and the one responsible for his current incarnation. Since the time he’d eventually returned to the devil’s servants they’d made his existence a misery, and now he was determined that she should pay. He had to get past Ron first and Ron summoned every ounce of concentration so that Gabriella could save Fiona.

Mikey turned the knife so that the blade tip was at Fiona’s throat. She felt his arm tense and closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. She felt as if her heart would burst through her chest and bizarrely, her mind took her back to when she was a child and had picked up a wounded sparrow. She remembered the bird’s heart racing the same way that hers was now. The bird had died and Fiona now felt that her fate was to be the same. Powerless to act, she waited.

Gabriella hated changing form but she didn’t have the time to consider other options. Mikey was about to cross the line and seriously injure his victim. He was sweating but with excitement, rather than fear. He wanted to take a final look at his audience to ensure he had their attention. His father said he’d never make anything of himself but Mikey would show him and the two freaks who looked like copies of each other. Two of his crew were watching and as soon as he’d done this and got away, his fame would be legendary. He could feel her trembling and instead of showing compassion, it gave him confidence and made him feel powerful. Milking the moment he lifted his head slowly and the sick smile that had started to form on his face disappeared in a flash. The rodent was big and grey and its eyes seemed to look right into his inner being. The rat’s tail was swinging back and forth as if it had a mind of its own. The sight of it reduced Mikey to a gibbering wreck. Fiona felt his grip slacken and instinctively pushed his arm away. Jim was at her side in a nano-second and Tony was about to throw a punch when he stopped his arm in mid air. The rat had sunk its teeth into the youth’s shoulder and Mikey, screaming in agony and fear, sank to the ground hugging himself, the knife now a distance away and forgotten.

‘Are you a man or a mouse?’ Asked Jim and Mikey squeaked in reply. ‘Don’t let it come near me again, man.’ His shaking was so bad he looked like he was having a fit.

Tony shook his head and although he despised the youth and would have loved to give him a good beating, felt unable to do so when presented with the pathetic specimen on the floor in front of him.

Fiona had no such misgivings and her fear was replaced by blind rage.

‘How dare you, you weak, selfish, pathetic excuse for a human being.’ Each word was accompanied by a kick and by this stage Mikey was screaming for her and the rat to go away. It took both Tony and Jim to pull her off and when she calmed down, her anger was replaced by tears. Jim held her while she sobbed.

Claire looked at the rat while it retreated to a corner and noticed something familiar in its eyes. Trying to work out why, she realized that Gabriella hadn’t appeared for a while and the penny dropped. As she formulated her thoughts, a shadow flew past her toward the rat and she knew the evil dog was out for destruction. Claire willed the dog off course and at the last second the animal hit the wall next to the rat. She was almost as surprised as the dog. The stunned animal shook itself and weaved slowly away, staggering like a drunk after a Friday night out. The rat winked and remembering what Gabriella had said, Claire knew that she’d been right to intervene. This was confirmed when the rat changed shape before their eyes, and Gabriella re-appeared.

The other boys and evil dog now gone, Ron and Claire turned their attention to Ken. Although Ron still couldn’t stand the sight of him, he was able to detach from his emotions and do the decent thing. They lifted him and knew that it would be some time before Ken would come round. Claire could see that her brothers were busy consoling Fiona and she resisted the urge to talk to them, deciding to give them space.

A light diverted everybody’s attention. Tony, Jim and Fiona couldn’t quite believe that the sun appeared to be in the street with them. It was different for Mikey. He felt himself burning from the bright light and tried to cover his face. The animals had disappeared and one moment the light was there, the next it was gone. The twins and Fiona smiled inanely at each other. After their experience they should have been traumatised and stressed. Instead, all they felt at that moment was peculiar warmth and a strange sense of wonder at the shining light.

‘Do you think it was Claire?’ Asked Fiona and Gabriella laughed to herself as she travelled back home, shouting.

‘It was me...’ knowing as she called that the living wouldn’t hear. Although not permitted to do it very often she loved the occasional light show, knowing how good it made people feel.

The twins shrugged and looked at Mikey, their awe at the light slowly being replaced by anger at the youth, and at what could have been. His face and hands looked burnt and wondering what they’d witnessed they put it down to intervention by Claire.

‘I’ll phone the police.’ Said Tony and made a citizens arrest after the call. Jim held Fiona as a number of emotions surged through him. They shouldn’t have used her as bait and he intended to make it up to her. The realization that he may have lost her brought home his true feelings and Jim knew that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He felt elated but vulnerable.

‘I really love you.’ Though upset at her ordeal, Fiona was over the moon that her boyfriend had chosen to tell her this for the first time in their relationship.

*****

‘That’s your phone.’ Called Val, her rubber gloved hands deep in the sink, washing the dinner dishes.

Marion answered. ‘It’s Tony.’ She mouthed to her friend. She listened and nodded, frowning and looking worried at first, noted Val, but the concern was soon replaced by a big smile. Val could see that Marion was anxious to get off her phone to relay whatever she was being told. She took her hands out of the sink and removed the gloves extremely interested in the conversation.

‘What is it?’ Val whispered and Marion put a finger to her lips and said. ‘Shhh,’ as she listened to her son. In what seemed like an age later to Val, Marion said goodbye to Tony and put down her phone. Val had slowly been getting back to her old self, the only obstacle to full recovery was the knowledge that her attackers were still at large. Marion knew her news would put paid to that.

She locked eyes with Val and her friend already knew by the look on her face.

‘They’ve caught them.’ She said simply before they screamed at each other with delight and danced around the living room like a pair of lottery jackpot winners.

Four days later and Marion showed Val the newspaper report. The
Have a go Heroes
were featured with a photograph of the twins and Fiona posing in the middle in Charlie’s Angels type stance. Marion was inordinately proud of her boys and Val would be eternally grateful to them. She’d already taken them out to dinner to thank them and as it was the summer holidays, Carl and Libby had joined them. It was something else that bonded the two families together and both Val and Marion were hoping that the attraction between Libby and Tony would further cement this bond. The following week was the first anniversary of Claire and Ron’s death and both women would need the support of each other to get through the day.

*****

It had been a difficult day as they’d expected. Claire’s ashes were in the memorial garden in her home town in Yorkshire and Marion had decided not to visit. After all, her daughter was in her heart and her head and she took the memory of her wherever she went. The fact that she knew Claire was fine on the other side didn’t stop Marion’s heart from aching with sadness at her daughter’s death and she still missed her like crazy. They spent the morning looking at photographs, exchanging stories and crying. Both sets of children had called to check on their mothers and the conversations had been very tearful. By midday they both felt emotionally drained and the walls of the house seemed to be closing in.

‘You know what. I’m sure Ron wouldn’t have wanted me to mope around the house.’

‘Claire would have said the same. She was too young, Val and she’d tell me to get on with my life.’

‘Shall we go out for a while?’ Asked Val. She’d scattered Ron’s ashes from a cliff top onto the sea in Brighton. It would take less than two hours for them to get there if they left now and the sea air would do them the world of good.

*****

When Claire had first discovered that her mother talked to her every night, she visited as often as she could and it had been a comfort knowing how much she’d been loved. Over the last few months she’d felt a change in herself and knew that although she’d always love her family, it was time to move on. It was with these thoughts that Claire visited on the anniversary of her death. She would have loved to talk to her mother the way she could with her brothers, but Gabriella told her that further messages weren’t possible. She would have thanked her for all the wonderful times that built the memories of her childhood, for the unconditional love, and for not spoiling her too much, though at the time Claire would have preferred to have been spoiled. A year ago she would also have apologized for not being the daughter she thought her mother wanted. Now having listened to Marion, she knew she was exactly the daughter her mother had wanted her to be, and wherever she ended up she’d be able to take that with her and cherish the thought. Marion was in bed when Claire popped in. She was in the middle of telling her daughter about her morning and how they’d decided to go to Brighton.

‘We had a lovely afternoon, Claire. Fish and chips, and lots of people watching. We had a laugh when a seagull took a man’s ice-cream cone when he wasn’t paying attention. It made us both feel a little better. I hope you don’t mind that I enjoyed myself a bit, even though it’s the anniversary of the worst day of my life.’ With that she started crying and Claire had to wait for her mother to compose herself before she could continue.

‘There’s a massive hole that used to be filled by you. And whatever I do, it’ll always be there, but I have to get on with my life. Now that I know you’re going to be fine I hope you understand?’

Claire did understand and was glad her mother had changed over the past year. She now knew that she could look after herself and would be able to cope with whatever life threw at her. Claire wanted to see how Jay had coped so blew a whisper of a kiss to her mother and said goodbye.